New mural in Mooroolbark...
In Mooroolbark, now lays a vibrant new mural adorns Brice Avenue, the result of collaboration between local youth, Victoria Police, and Blender Studios.
Artists from Blender Studios took over an empty wall at Bakehouse Boss, commencing work on the mural on July 26 and finishing it in just five days, with the assistance of high school students.
This initiative was made possible by a grant from the State Government's Living Local Suburban fund to the Mooroolbark Traders and Community Group, which brought together police and students. This enabled members of the Mooroolbark Police Station to engage in multiple sessions during the workshop, aimed at fostering relationships with disengaged youth.
Senior Sergeant Chris Tulloch described this as a positive endeavour for youth who may have experienced strained relations with the police and engaged in street-related issues. This then led to teens gradually opening up and engaging in these important conversations.
Blender’s own, Doyle, initiated these workshops in June for students from local high schools to learn street art techniques and design the mural content. The mural's inspiration draws from everyday life in Mooroolbark,
"It’s all the things that people dream of and encounter and think about, but on a magical level. So it is surreal.” Not to mention the random stuff that kids come up with such as the “ocean and dogs…thrown together into this really complex and beautiful composition” - Doyle, 2023.
Before finalising the mural on July 29, the young participants painted sections using a colour by numbers technique, enhancing their sense of ownership and significance to their own home area. According to Senior Sgt. Tulloch, this project, while the first of its kind in Mooroolbark, has been successfully implemented in several Melbourne suburbs. The Mooroolbark Traders group have now secured funding for two more murals, offering prospects for further collaborative artwork.
To see more of Blender Studios' work, why not take a visit to Lilydale's Lions Park, where in person you can discover an extensive nine-by-30-meter mural.
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